The Oddly Tepid Political Fight Over Global Warming: ‘At this point, it’s not even clear how Barack Obama would respond to that poll question’ – ‘How serious a problem is climate change?’

'Despite his State of the Union and inaugural pledges to fight for action on warming, the president hasn't had much energy for it, either. In an article this week, The Times notes that, following those speeches, 'little more has been heard from the president or his cabinet on the matter.' It outlined a few reasons — new leaders in energy-related Cabinet positions; a focus on other issues, like gun control — but left unanswered the perhaps-unanswerable question of what the president actually plans to do. Beyond the fight over a few specific issues — fracking and the Keystone XL pipeline — Washington's discussion of climate change is mostly whispered'